Well, even without opening a history book (sadly, "leftist teachers" did not get rid of Allende all by themselves), one would think that the US military adventu

Well, even without opening a history book (sadly, "leftist teachers" did not get rid of Allende all by themselves), one would think that the US military adventurism of the last decade would have equipped US citizens (I'll go out on a limb and assume you are one) with a healthy dose of skepticism. Governments have most often been waving various pretenses to make their actions look good. Manifest destiny, the white man's burden, the necessity to bring the socialist paradise... "Championing liberty" is just one of them. But you don't "champion liberty" by setting up something like the School of the Americas[1], or selling arms to Iran to fund Contras terrorists[2]. This is a different concept, which is "protecting your interests by whatever means available". 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere_Institute_for_Security_Cooperation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere_Institute_fo... 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras